HomeInspirationThe march to freedom - part 4

THE SCIENCE OF SPIRITUALITY

Evolution of Consciousness Series

KAMLESH PATEL continues his narration of the ultimate journey to freedom. In this issue he takes us even further, beyond experience, beyond consciousness, even beyond the Super-Mind of God, to the Center of all things.

Let’s revisit the journey so far. Our wayfarer has traveled through six regions: the heart region (Pind Pradesh), the cosmic region (Brahmanda Mandal), the supracosmic region (Para-Brahmanda Mandal), the region of surrender (Prapanna), the region of transition between surrendering to God and nearness to God (Prapanna- Prabhu), and the region of nearness to God, or Prabhu. He has traveled from chakra 1 up to chakra 12. By this stage, he has already experienced the Super-Mind of God and reached the point where the soul enters and leaves the body, so what more could there be? The journey doesn’t end here, however, as it is infinite and the path dynamic. There is no limit to the extent of evolution and there is nothing static in Nature. We either evolve or devolve.

Up till now, there has always been a polarity at each chakra. This polarity finds its expression in the dualities of positive versus negative and higher versus lower. In the heart region, the realm of feelings and emotions, our wayfarer identified this play of polarity with various spectra of emotions, such as desire – contentment, restlessness – peace, anger – love, fear – courage, and confusion – clarity.

In the mind region, while crossing the rings of ego between chakras 6 and 12, this play of polarity was experienced between ‘I’ and the Lord – individual identity and universal identity. It started with the vast power and capacity of the cosmic region, and became subtler and subtler as he journeyed onwards. Eventually it transmuted into the state of potentiality in the realm of the Super-Mind of God at chakra 12. In between was the process of refinement – the alchemical transformation from matter to energy to Absolute.

Now, after all this, our wayfarer reaches the central region, where the play of polarity ceases. All that happens here in the central region is beyond description. Words fail, so please be extra sympathetic with me while reading this. I have no intention of keeping anything hidden, but only personal experience can reveal all that happens in this region.

The pre-requisites for entering this region are insignificance and humility, so that the ‘being’ of individual existence is able to dissolve into the ‘non-beingness’ of God. The individual human mind transcends into the ‘no-mindedness’ of God. By cultivating this state of no-mindedness, he becomes God-like and enters the central region, the undifferentiated state. In this state he is lost to himself. Only then can he feel the omnipresence of God. The feeling enjoyed by the wayfarer, that God is everywhere, while in the upper region of chakra 1 of the heart is far heavier, and cannot be compared with the feeling of His omnipresence at this stage.


Our wayfarer experiences the divine qualities of omnipresence, omniscience and omnipotence as a result of his humility. Like God, though he is everywhere he does not make his presence noticed; though he knows everything, he doesn’t declare his knowledge; though he is omnipotent, he doesn’t interfere with anyone’s freedom.


Our wayfarer experiences the divine qualities of omnipresence, omniscience and omnipotence as a result of his humility. Like God, though he is everywhere he does not make his presence noticed; though he knows everything, he doesn’t declare his knowledge; though he is omnipotent, he doesn’t interfere with anyone’s freedom.

This condition at chakra 13 is like that of a newborn child – absolute innocence. And just as a mother must look after her newborn child, it is the duty of the Divine to look after the wayfarer. Now he can say that he has finally arrived home.

My first Guru, Ram Chandra of Shahjahanpur, wrote about this region in 1944: “Here is the end of all our activities and we have now entered the Godly region in pure form. Our goal is achieved and we are admitted into it. The Self is realized. We are above actual consciousness, which abides in the region of heart, and its potentiality, which is rooted in the mind region. We are now free from the endless circle of rebirth.”1

Having traveled this journey and gained so much knowledge and enlightenment along the way, the wayfarer is now dumbstruck by the higher ignorance of the Absolute state. There is only harmony within and everywhere in the Universe. He finds superconsciousness of the finest type in this region.

He is in a state of wonder and awe as he witnesses the splendor that emerges on entering chakra 13. Has the journey come to an end? No! The Guru continues to support him and carry him forward like a kangaroo carries a joey in her pouch. As a result, there is a lack of feeling of journey.

Do we feel like we are travelling at great speed around the Sun while living on the surface of our Mothership Earth? The Earth does a complete revolution around the Sun during the course of a year, spinning at a speed of 18.5 miles or 30 kilometers per second on its axis, but does it feel like we are moving? The Guru’s support of the wayfarer is like that. Just as we observe the shifts from day to night and witness the seasons coming and going, our wayfarer witnesses inner changes. His descriptions of these shifts are usually very vague, however, because they are so subtle: “It is simpler than before,” “There is more purity than before,” or “It is what it is.”

In this tremendous innocence, he remains unaware of himself and his Guru. The feelings of knowing or loving, of being known or loved, all vanish here. He is now at the Source of enlightenment, from where all knowledge flows. He is now at the Source of love, from where all love flows. He no longer needs to know, and he no longer needs to love, as he is love. In this state, there is the innocence of knowledgelessness. This is the state of higher ignorance, of Nothingness or Zero.

In Heartfulness, Yogic Transmission generally flows from the heart of the trainer to the heart of the seeker. In rare cases, the trainer witnesses the Transmission flowing from the higher chakras. When Transmission flows from chakra 13, the Center, the result of any positive suggestion by the trainer is unfailing. Here the will is no longer acting, as where there is ignorance, innocence, knowledgelessness and egolessness, how can there be will? It is not possible. Instead, the work of Nature happens automatically, through the heart and mind of the wayfarer. When he remains absorbed and in tune with the Lord, Nature’s commands come naturally and are also fulfilled in the most natural way, like effortless breathing.

And if he needs to offer prayer, it is incumbent upon him to descend from the central region to a most supplicant state, like the one that prevails at chakra 9.

Our wayfarer cannot rush matters and say, “I want to have the experience of chakra 13 or chakra 8,” as this is not something that can be ordered from a menu. But once the journey has been made, it is easier to go back and forth along the path at will.

I would like to share some very profound and motivating lines of Ram Chandra of Shahjahanpur about this region, with respect to consciousness. He writes, “Consciousness is not our goal. It is only a toy for children to play with. We have to reach a point where consciousness assumes its true form ... We have to make a search for the Mother Tincture from which medicines are actually prepared. We are searching for the potentiality which creates consciousness, and if that too is gone, then we find ourselves on the verge of true Reality – pure and simple.”

It is here in the central region that we go beyond potentiality to true Reality. We have reached the realm of the Absolute, the state that existed before the creation of the universe, and we finally understand what human life is really all about.

I have a wish, dear readers, that all of you will find this journey enticing enough to experience it. How? By following the path of meditation that assures systematic spiritual expansion. This can be felt on an everyday basis, nay, on a moment-to-moment basis, by those who are eager enough to undertake this simple approach of meditation.


It is here in the central region that we go beyond potentiality to true Reality. We have reached the realm of the Absolute, the state that existed before the creation of the universe, and we finally understand what human life is really all about.


The Guru, in his benevolence and mercy, gives us glimpses of the central region long before we truly reach there. We are at times given the experience of the condition prevailing at the various rings of splendor within the central region, but this is a virtual experience rather than the real thing.

While journeying through the chakras to the Centre, there is another vital thing: we begin and end our journey in the heart. Everything is encompassed in the heart.

Within the central region itself there are seven circles, known as the rings of splendor. Swami Vivekananda communicated to Ram Chandra about them in the following way: “These are the divisions with certain curls in the central region. If you start from the first circle and reach the last one, that means you have gained the last point and you come to the landing ground of the Rishis and the liberated souls. What is that? You begin from the heart and end in the Heart, but reach the landing ground. Do you not cross all the regions in that way?”

And the regions that lie within these broad regions can also be of countless varieties. This description of the journey is only an outline, a map to be followed.

Now, please understand that everything I have just shared with you is valueless unless you experience it for yourself. Having a map that tells us how to get from New York to Washington DC is not the same as making the journey. Buying the map and making an itinerary is part of our preparation, so that we know in which direction to move, which plane to take, which train, and then we prepare accordingly. Then we decide what sort of clothes we will need, what food to buy, etc.

How do we prepare for the inner journey? By deciding what is needed in our lifestyle – what sort of qualities, attitudes and behaviors will help to reach the final destination. And then comes the question of where to find a Guide who has undergone the journey himself and knows the way? How to recognize such a being?

We can go on pilgrimages to holy places, but whenever a pilgrimage is made within, sincerely, then only is it the true journey. We must change from within. Have we changed to the extent that under all circumstances of misery or extreme ecstasy we remain centered and equanimous? That is the state of sthit pragya, so highly praised in the Bhagavad Gita. That is the true test.

So while we journey through the chakras and regions, the best benchmark of how far we have come is the degree to which we are able to joyfully accept all situations, where nothing and nobody can shake our inner balance.

As human beings we have this golden opportunity to experience the journey to the Center of all existence! We have been blessed with the possibility of expanding our consciousness to encompass the universe and beyond, as we march towards Infinity.


1 Ram Chandra of Shahjahanpur, 2015. Efficacy of Raja Yoga in the Light of Sahaj Marg. Shri Ram Chandra Mission, India.


Article by KAMLESH PATEL



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Daaji

Kamlesh Patel is known to many as Daaji. He is the Heartfulness Guide in a tradition of Yoga meditation that is over 100 years old, overseeing 14,000 certified Heartfulness trainers and many volunteers in over 160 countries. He is an inn... Read More

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